See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/225965548

SEM online investigation of fatigue crack initiation and propagation in cast

magnesium alloy

Article in Journal of Materials Science · April 2004

DOI: 10.1023/B:JMSC.0000020042.71571.ce

CITATIONS READS

64 418

2 authors, including:

Xi-Shu Wang
Tsinghua University
85 PUBLICATIONS 1,557 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Xi-Shu Wang on 07 October 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

J O U R N A L O F M A T E R I A L S S C I E N C E 3 9 (2 0 0 4 ) 2617 – 2620
SEM online investigation of fatigue crack initiation and propagation
in cast magnesium alloy
XI-SHU WANG∗
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China
E-mail: xshwang@tsinghua.edu.cn
JING-HONG FAN
Research Center on Materials Mechanics, Chongqing University, 400044, People’s Republic of China;
Division of Mechanical Engineering, Alfred University, NY 14802, USA
Magnesium (Mg) alloys have a unique combination of
properties including low density and easy formability
that are attractive for numerous technological appli-
cations. The requirement to reduce the weight of en-
gineering components has recently triggered substan-
tial research effort on the structural properties of this
kind of alloy [1–3]. Compared to other lightweight
wrought and cast materials such as aluminum and ti-
tanium, little work has been performed on the fatigue
behavior of cast magnesium. Initial studies examined
the low and high cycle fatigue of cast Mg [4, 5] but
they concluded that traditional fatigue life prediction
tools are often inaccurate for the cast Mg. Therefore,
it is of great interest to search for a relationship be-
tween the fatigue failure mechanisms and microstruc-
ture in the cast Mg [6–9]. To gain a better understanding
on the fatigue behaviors of this alloy, we carried out the
fatigue crack initiation and propagation tests and in-
vestigated the fatigue crack growth path with notched
specimens of the cast AM50 alloy with online SEM
observation.
The nominal composition of AM50 alloy contain
about 5 wt% aluminum. The testing specimens with
a 14 mm gage length and a 2.5 mm by 2.3 mm
gage cross section were machined from plates sup-
plied by Hydro’s Inc. The testing specimen had a
notch radius of about ρ = 80 µm to elevate the lo-
cal stress state in controlling the site of fatigue crack
initiation. The surfaces of the samples were care-
fully polished prior to fatigue tests. All fatigue tests
were performed in the chamber of the SEM. Fatigue
tests were carried out at a stress ratio R = 0.1 un-
der a sinusoidal variation. The maximum stress of
120 MPa was chosen as it is below the yield stress
σ0.2 = 140 MPa. The whole process of fatigue crack
initiation and propagation was monitored and recorded
in situ at a frequency of 0.01 Hz at room tempera-
ture in order to clearly observe the open and closed
crack status. The microstructure of cast AM50 alloy
is present in the brittle eutectic phase Mg17 Al12 (Its
micro-hardness is about 88.34 MPa) with the α-Mg
grains (Its micro-hardness is about 66.86 MPa). The
microstructure has a significant influence on the me-
∗Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
0022–2461 
C 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers
chanical properties of this alloy [10]. As tensile frac-
ture initiates due to cracking of Mg17 Al12 particles
[11], the volume fraction and spatial distribution of
this β-phase determines the ductility, provided that
there are no severe defects such as porosity or oxide
films.
Fig. 1 shows the S-N curve of cast AM50 alloy with
a notch. With increasing applied stress, the fatigue fail-
ure life Nf decreases linearly in the range from 2 × 103
to 106 . When the applied maximum stress is near to the
yield stress, the fatigue bifurcate crack along the grains
boundaries of the primary α-Mg globules was found,
as shown in Fig. 2. In the later stage after a bifurcate
crack occurs, the fatigue crack growth life is much lower
than the fatigue crack initiation life if the fatigue life
is defined as the summation of loading cycles of the
above-mentioned two regimes. This means that the fa-
tigue crack initiation life is approximately equal to the
total fatigue life of the alloy because it is significantly
affected by the microstructure as well as the shape and
size of notch of samples. Therefore, one should pay
special attention to the effect of microstructure on the
fatigue crack initiation of the alloy. As the ductility of
boundary of α-Mg grains is rather lower, the fatigue be-
havior of this alloy is not excellent. Therefore, the duc-
tility should be enhanced by a decrease in the volume
fraction of the β-phase as well as by a finer dispersion
of the β-phase so as to form a continuous network of
the β-phase along the grain boundary α-Mg globules.
Micromechanical analysis shows that the continuous
network microstructure of the β-phase may provide su-
perior stiffening and strengthening effects to the alloy
[12].
When the maximum applied stress reached 120 MPa
(σmax /σ0.2 ≤ 0.857), the early fatigue crack propaga-
tion path after 82 657 cycles was shown in Fig. 3a and
b. The fatigue crack initiation shown in Fig. 3a also
shown that the fatigue crack initiation depend mainly
on the microstructure of material no matter under a
higher or lower stress level. It is clearly seen that the
crack initiated at location A which was not located at
the tip of notch and a V-shape fatigue crack propaga-
tion path formed at the early stage of the crack growth.
2617
 100
Casting AM50 alloy in R=0.1
the radiu is about 80 µm
80
Stress amplitude/ (MPa)
60
40
20
2 3
10 10
Numbers of cycles to failure, Nf
Figure 1 S-N curve for cast AM50 alloy.
Figure 2 Fatigue crack initiation and propagation path under applied
maximum stress 160 MPa at R = 0.1 (scale bar 50 µm).
The crack completed the transition from the V-type to
mode-I type crack after 140 639 cycles of loading, cor-
responding to a crack length about 134 µm. Thus the
crack changed its propagation direction from the in-
clined direction to the straight one, i.e., perpendicular
to the loading direction. This rotation of propagation
direction was caused mainly by the increase of driv-
ing force (stress intensity factor) due to the increase
of crack length and the effect of the microstructure of
material. When the crack growth approached to a lo-
cation, where dense β-Mg17 Al12 phase in the multi-
ple α-Mg grains boundaries were distributed, the ro-
tation of crack propagation direction occurred. Due to
the micro-hardness of the β-Mg17 Al12 phase is much
higher, when the cyclic plastic zone in front of the
crack tip had a sufficient size to include this region,
these brittle β-Mg17 Al12 phase has a great influence on
mechanical properties resulting in the sliding of grain
boundary. This will facilitate the crack propagation so
the crack will switch from Mode-I type and propa-
gate along a locally curved path along the α-Mg grains
boundaries.
Fig. 4a shows a SEM image of the microstructure of
the alloy on the fracture surface. Here, it can be seen
2618
4 5 6
10 10 10
(a)
(b)
Figure 3 Fatigue crack initiation and propagation path under applied
maximum stress 120 MPa at R = 0.1. (a) Fatigue microcrack propaga-
tion path after N = 82 657 (scale bar 50 µm,  = 42 µm). (b) Fatigue
microcrack propagation path after N = 140 639 (scale bar 20 µm,  =
134 µm).
that the geometry of the upper surfaces of phases 1
and 2 formed a V-shape. There is a third phase between
phases 1 and 2, but is not shown in this figure as only the
fracture part was observed. To verify that these phases
are the primary α-Mg phase, local chemical composi-
tions were determined using Energy Dispersive X-ray
(EDX) analysis. Results showed that the Mg contents
of phases 1 and 2 are, respectively, 88.4 and 90.9%;
see Fig. 4b and c. From this composition characteriza-
tion, we can conclude that the crack passed through the
α-Mg grains boundaries.
In summary, we obtain the following main conclu-
sions from this study. (a) Fatigue cracks were observed
to nucleate preferentially in porous notched regions,
especially at the site with a high stress concentration.
(b) Fatigue crack initiation and propagation behavior
can be improved by the ductility which changes with
the cast process. (c) The Mode-I small crack propaga-
tion can be disturbed by interdendritic regions where
the harder β-phase requires a higher stress to cause
debonding from the α-phase which has a lower resis-
tance for crack propagation.
 (a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 4 SEM image of the surface microstructure and chemical composition of material: (a) SEM image of the surface microstructure of material
(scale bar 10 µm), (b) the chemical composition of Mg α-phase 1 via EDX, and (c) the chemical composition of Mg α-phase 2 via EDX.

2619
 Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the financial support
of USCAR/VSamp and Richard J. Osborne and Donald
E. Penrod for significant support of this project.
References
1. B . L . M O R D I K E and T . E B E R T , J. Mater. Sci. Engng. A302
(2001) 37.
2. M . M . A V E D A S I A N and H . B A K E R , “ASM Specialty Hand
Book” (ASM International, Ohio, 1999).
3. S . K L E I N E R , O . B E F F O R T , A . W A H L E M and P . J .
U G G O W I T Z E R , J. Light Metals 2 (2002) 277.
4. D . L . G O O D E N B E R G E R and R . I . S T E P H E N S , J. Engng.
Mater. Techn. 115 (1993) 391.
5. G . E I S E N M E I E R , M . O T T M U E L L E R , H . W . H O E P P E L
and H . M U G H R A B I , in Fatigue’99, Proceedings of the 7th Inter-
national Fatigue Conference (Beijing, P.R. China, 1999) Vols. 1/4,
p. 253.
2620
View publication stats
6. A . B A L A S U N D A R A M and A . M . G O K H A L E , Mater. Char-
acter. 46 (2001) 419.
7. A . M . G O K H A L E and G . R . P A T E L , in “Magn. Techn.,” edited
by J. Hryn (TMS, 2001) p. 195.
8. A . K . D A H L E , Y . C . L E E , M . D . N A V E , P . L .
S C H A F F E R and D . H . S T J O H N . J. Light Metals 1 (2001) 161.
9. K . X U , A . M . R U S S E L L , L . S . C H U M B L E Y and F . C .
L A A B S , J. Mater. Sci. 34(24) (1999) 5955.
10. D . J . S A K K I N E N , “Attributes of Magnesium for Automobile
Design” (SAE, Warrendale, 1994) p. 71.
11. G . L . D U N L O P , W . P . S E Q U E I R A , M . S . D A R G U S C H ,
G. SONG, A. ATRENS, T. KITTEL, D. H. STJOHN,
A . K . D A H L E and M . M U R R A Y , in Proceedings of The 55th
Meeting of The International Magnesium Association, 1998, p. 68.
12. X . Q . F E N G , Y . - W . M A I and Q . H . Q I N , Comput. Mater.
Sci. (in press).
Received 10 February
and accepted 26 September 2003